by Killer Rob » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:44 am
I have to start off in my post here by saying that I am extremely biased about this album. The main reason is that I grew up in Virginia Beach, so Hampton combined with phish was my mecca of everything that truly mattered on this earth. Let me tell you, there was an electric energy in that building those two nights. The parking lot was all you could ask for in an all-out free for all party for a show that size. Inside the building during the jams, they seemed to catch pretty much every vibe that you could ask for in a show. There were feelings of intensity, to care-free spiritness(is that a word?), to joyfulness, to heartfelt emotions, and always my favorite feeling at a phish show, a sense of wonder and amazement.
That was my first time EVER hearing the songs Piper, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Tube, and Driver, and probably my favorite song of the night...FARMHOUSE! I had never heard them play any of those songs, so I was certainly once again amazed and left gasping with a sense of wonder of how great it all was. I'm not sure what it was, but something about that Mango Song really hit me on that 1st night...Not to mention you could tell the band was really into it on those two nights. Trey was pretty much banging his head hardcore thruout the whole night, as was Mike, as always with Mike, fucking cool ass dude.
With that being said, phish had so many killer shows at Hampton that HCA wasn't the band's greatest ever performance at the Coliseum. They played so many awesome 2 show nights at Hampton, it would be hard to choose, but I think my favorite would be from '96. The fucking shows from '96 at Hampton Coliseum were the most insane ever!! That was my first time ever hearing Stash live before, and I was at that age where Stash might've been the greatest song ever!
Needless to say, when I first heard they decided to release Hampton Comes Alive, I was ecstatic, and still treasure it till this day. I have one of those bulletin boards that I pin all my ticket stubs to, and I love when people come over and I show them the HCA album, and then point to the ticket stubs on the board that match the show! Not that any of my close friends now are into phish, but how many people can say they have a 6 CD live album of the show they attended live that was in their freaking hometown of their favorite band?!?
freaking awesomeness I tell ya